Need help deciding whether to pre-order Sideshow’s Avatar A.M.P. Suit Maquette next week? We’re here to help.

This one was a definite surprise. I was more expecting Weta to have something on hand for James Cameron’s latest. If it doesn’t look it from photos you may have seen, let me assure you: This thing is maaaasiiveeee. It’s approaching ridiculous how large collectibles are getting, particularly from Sideshow. Still, in this particular case, it’s a good thing. It works. It shouldn’t be any smaller. However, recognize that this will translate to more green out of your wallet.

And what it will cost is still a mystery. I cannot see this landing anywhere under $500, and could see it go as high as $1K. Also, the paintjob on this display piece was phenomenal. I have some real doubts that Sideshow can match its quality in production. Let’s hope they prove me wrong.

The Avatar maquette will go on pre-order this coming Thursday, August 20.

For even more images of the Sideshow Avatar A.M.P. Suit maquette, don’t neglect to peruse our Comic-Con 2009 Gallery!

• See more In-Depth features from Comic-Con 09

Forum member Felmar has got the first in-hand photos of Hot Toy’s utterly massive 1/6 scale The Dark Knight Tumbler!

This behemoth “Batmobile” even makes his life-size Predator bust appear diminutive!

Click through for his photos!

(7 photos)

Click on each category to sort by that stat! Bold blue text indicates the highest stat per each category. [update: New boards added!]

Compare with our last BOTB! (Aug. 2007)

Musings:
Most posts and members
[Update]: P. Wise was kind enough to provide us with the stats himself- no more question marks! In light of this, you may find it interesting that RS no longer holds the member record, which now goes to newcomer TFW2005.
——–
You’ll notice that the a couple of stats for Rebelscum are in bold blue, and you’ll notice that they are in question marks. How is this possible?

Firstly they are question marks because there are no stats to be easily found on the index. However, even using our numbers for their forum from two years ago, they’d still win in those categories. That’s why.

As always, any help in providing numbers for our ? stats is appreciated.

Growth
Clearly excelling over the others, Sideshow Freaks has experienced explosive growth at 275%. In case you’re wondering of course, “Growth” is calculated based on the increase in the number of posts since August, 2007.

Average
Average is calculated by dividing the total number of posts by the number of members, providing an indication of participation per individual. As with the 2007 BOTB, we (The Shadow and Flame) take this one with pride.

So long, farewell:
These are boards that have been removed from the table since the last BOTB, considering their inactivity.
Parenthesis indicate number of new posts in this two year time frame.
Yodas News (14696)
Wetaholics (1640)
Lordoftheringsguide (4406)

And Spawn.com’s board was removed– as the only board done by the company themselves, it just didn’t really fit.

In place of these boards, The Hunter’s Lair, Statue Marvels, Chocolate by Death, and Onesixthwarriors (OSW) were added.

Conclusion:
And there you have it folks. The economy sucks, but there are still a heck of a lot of people talking about collectibles online.

As always, here are links to all the fine boards discussed. Give them a visit!
The Shadow and Flame
SideshowFreaks
Statue Forum
Gentle Giant Collectors
Lord of the Rings Guide
Onesixthwarrior
Sandtroopers
Rebelscum
TFW2005
Statue Marvels
Spawn.com
The Hunter’s Lair
Chocolate by Death
Wetaholics
Yoda’s News

(Oh my! Rebelscum maintains lead and nears 300 votes! GGC pulls comfortably into third!)

Get your last votes in folks! Poll closes at the end of August. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Weta has hit the ground running with its newly minted miniature shield line. Now officially a reality, all three initial pieces are now up for pre-ordering at $35 a piece.

• Gil-Galad miniature shield
• Numenorean miniature shield
• Easterling miniature shield

What happens when you take the most diminutive of Rayguns and miniaturize it? Well like that Large Hadron Collider thing in Switzerland, there’s only one way to know: bang it out and see what happens.

Who knows when the destruction of Earth will occur from particle collision, but thankfully you’ll have the opportunity to fondle your own miniature Victorious Mongoose well before then! Quietly debuted at Comic-Con (come see it in our Booth Tour), it is now up for pre-order. Yes, it really is tiny. It reminded me of a frosted mini-wheat. But that’s more part of its appeal than a detraction.

You can bet your electrons we will have photos for you right here when it ships in October!

On a related note, let Weta know what LOTR items you want!

Terminator T-700 Premium Format Prototype (auction)
A dark paint application test done on a T-800 PF, for a “stealth Terminator” in Terminator: Salvation.

• Winning bid: $2325

Commander Cody Legendary Scale Bust Prototype (auction)
A prototype version with a myriad of differences, including a clear Palpatine hologram, higher hand position, and vastly different armor.

• Winning bid: $1525

Jason Voorhees Premium Format Figure Prototype (auction)
Essentially an abandoned prototype which will never be released.

• Winning bid: $2000

Psylocke Comiquette Prototype (auction)
My personal favorite, a Psylocke comiquette- a statue that looks good enough to release, but for some reason won’t be, not in this form. This is the only existing painted prototype.

• Winning bid: $4555

Red Hulk Legendary Scale Bust Prototype (auction)
A Hulk LSB repainted to depict the crimson “Rulk”. It was ultimately decided Rulk looked too different than just a sunburnt version of Hulk, so this remains just that: an abandoned prototype.

• Winning bid: $2650

All auctions scheduled to end on Aug 09, 2009.

• Much more info on Sideshow’s auction event
  
• Diane Kamahele Memorial Fund